Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Apple CEO toured BMW electric vehicle factory, Reuters saysApple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook and other senior executives travelled to BMW (BAMXY) headquarters last year and toured its Leipzig factory to gather data on electric car manufacturing, reports Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Collaboration talks ended without a definite conclusion because Apple appeared to want to pursue its own car development, said one the sources. Reference Link

Apple heads for retest of supportShares are down less than 1% to $121.68, but the drift lower suggests the range low at the $120 area will be retested. A break below the range would be bearish. Resistance is at $122.99.

Samsung allowed to halt Smartflash infringement proceedings, Reuters reportsThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that Samsung (SSNLF) can halt patent infringement proceedings brought by Smartflash while the patents are examined by the USPTO, Reuters reports. The court also declined to stay the Smartflash case against Apple (AAPL), the report says. Reference Link

ADT rises after Citi downplays 'smart home' concernsShares of ADT (ADT) are heading higher in afternoon trading following an upgrade from Citi, within which the research firm said traditional home security firms have plenty of traction as self-installed, self-monitored security solutions from the likes of Apple (AAPL) and Google's (GOOG) Nest are slow to be adopted by homeowners. WHAT'S NEW: Citi's Jason Bazinet issued a research note on the home security sector, upgrading ADT to Buy from Neutral while slightly lowering his price target to $39 from $40. Bazinet notes that the sector is expanding into "smart home" technology powered by companies like Apple and Google's Nest. Despite this, the analyst contends that consumer data shows continued preference for the traditional approach in the form of professionally installed and professionally monitored services from ADT, Monitronics, Vivint, AT&T (T) and Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK). WHAT'S NOTABLE: Though tech firms and venture capitalists seem drawn towards the concept of self-installed, self-monitored "smart homes," consumers appear to be sticking with the professionals, says Citi. Security systems using Apple HomeKit and Google's Nest products are seeing "limited" adoption, and firms like ADT -- equipped with call centers and installation specialists -- appear ready to "hold their own," with recent weakness in ADT shares called an "opportunity" by Bazinet. The analyst conceded that professional security providers will see their market share drop to 15% from a current 20%, but Bazinet set a 2035 date for that shift, leaving plenty of near-term opportunity for traditional players. PRICE ACTION: After a 25% drop since mid-April, shares of ADT are up about 1.4% to trade near $32 this afternoon.

Nike to pay $2.4M to FuelBand customers, AppleInsider reportsUnder terms agreed upon in June, Nike (NKE) will pay $2.4M to customers who purchased a FuelBand product anytime between January 19, 2012 and June 17, 2015 to settle a class action suit leveled against itself and Apple (AAPL) in 2013, AppleInsider reports. Apple was named as a defendant in the suit, but holds no responsibility or liability for attorneys' fees or costs, the report says. The plaintiffs alleged that the Fuelband was unable to accurately track calorie burn, steps, and overall activity, the report says. Reference Link

Sky prepares to unveil set-top box, Telegraph reportsSky is finishing up an advanced set-top box called SkyQ, a device it hopes can help its pay-TV business compete against BT (BT), the Telegraph reports. The new hardware is set to be unveiled in the next few weeks and will offer satellite households an "Apple (AAPL) and Netflix (NFLX) style" experience, the report says, citing industry insiders. Reference Link

Earnings Watch: TV networks report as streaming services gain groundCBS (CBS), Time Warner (TWX), Viacom (VIA, VIAB), and 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA) are among TV network companies expected to report quarterly results over the next several weeks, with Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) already having reported before the open on July 23. EXPECTATIONS: Time Warner is expected to report EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $6.9B, CBS is expected to report EPS of 73c on revenue of $3.22B, Viacom is expected to report EPS of $1.47 on revenue of $3.22B, and 21st Century Fox is expected to report EPS of 37c on revenue of $6.48B. LAST QUARTER: CBS, Time Warner, and Fox all reported stronger than expected Q1 results, while Viacom reported higher than expected Q2 EPS but missed on revenue. THIS WEEK'S EARNINGS: On the morning of July 23, Comcast reported Q2 EPS of 84c in line with estimates, and revenue of $18.7B versus expectations for $18.14B. Cable customer relationships for the quarter were up 31,000 to 27.3M, driven by increases in double and triple product relationships. During a subsequent conference call, the company noted that TV viewership continues to be under pressure. NEWS: At Re/code's Code Conference on May 27, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves remarked that his network will "probably" sign up for Apple's (AAPL) rumored TV service, and on June 3, CBS announced that its Showtime network will be offered over the internet as a stand-alone streaming service launching in early July for a monthly price of $10.99, with Apple as its first partner. On July 1, Variety quoted sources as saying Viacom was attempting to entice advertisers by offering to construct social-media and digital extensions of traditional TV ad campaigns as the company seeks to move away from Nielsen-based advertising sales. On July 8, the Wall Street Journal reported that Viacom's Paramount Pictures reached an agreement with AMC (AMC) to accelerate the home release of movies, noting that the company hoped to implement the quickened schedule for all new releases beginning later in the year. On July 17, Re/code reported that Viacom held talks to acquire e-commerce and media company Thrillist Media, according to sources. On June 17, 21st Century Fox named James Murdoch as CEO, with founder and former chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch appointed executive co-chairman alongside Lachlan Murdoch. The Telegraph reported on June 20 that Fox rejected offers for its stake in Sky (SKYAY) from Vodafone (VOD) and Vivendi (VIVHY), potentially signalling an interest in outright purchasing the rest of Sky, according to the report. More recently, the European Commission announced on July 23 that it delivered a statement of objections to Sky and various film studios owned by Comcast, Viacom, Fox, Time Warner, Disney (DIS), and Sony (SNE), discussing anti-trust concerns due to limitations on country-by-country availability of pay-TV services. STREET RESEARCH: On May 12, Pacific Crest said it believes Apple will launch its TV service before the end of the year, saying the move should benefit TV networks as well as Apple itself. On June 24, Brean Capital said Facebook's (FB) agreement with Time Warner to host premier episodes of certain upcoming shows was "a trend worth following," and possibly indicative of Facebook hosting additional TV content in the future. Also on June 24, FBR Capital contended that Netflix (NFLX) was on pace to have a larger 24-hour audience than all traditional broadcast networks, where ratings are seeing declines on average, according to the research firm. Those comments were followed by a July 10 note on Netflix from Morgan Stanley, saying the subscription streaming service was seeing higher time spent per day than any single broadcast network. Moving away from the Netflix factor, on July 10, JPMorgan said CBS shares looked "very attractive" following a recent selloff, though the company saw a downgrade on July 20 from Pivotal, which cited higher costs of capital among other factors. Finally, Citi upgraded Viacom on July 16 to Neutral, citing recent underperformance in the company's shares heading into earnings season.

Pandora soars after results, guidance top estimatesShares of internet radio provider Pandora (P) are rising after the company’s second quarter results beat analysts' expectations. The company's third quarter and fiscal year 2015 revenue outlooks also exceeded the consensus. WHAT'S NEW: Thursday after the bell, Pandora reported Q2 adjusted earnings per share of 5c and revenue of $285.56M, easily topping analysts’ consensus estimates of 2c and $283.06M, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $16.3M, a 29% year-over-year improvement. The company also said that total RPMs increased 24% to $53.91 in Q2, ad RPMs grew 25% to $49.94, ad revenue was $230.9M and said total mobile revenue was $229.7M. For the quarter, total listener hours increased 5% to 5.3B and active listeners were 79.4M at the end of Q2 compared to 76.4M from the same period last year. Looking ahead to Q3, the company forecast revenue of $310M-$315M, slightly ahead of analysts' consensus estimates of $309.2M, and sees Q3 adjusted EBITDA of $25M-$30M. For FY15, Pandora forecast revenue of $1.175B-$1.185B, slightly better than analysts' consensus of $1.17B. Pandora also sees FY15 adjusted EBITDA of $75M-$85M and a tax rate of 30%-35%. WHAT’S NOTABLE: Brian McAndrews, the company's Chief Executive Officer, commented on Apple Music, Apple's (AAPL) recently launched music streaming service. McAndrews said that since the app launched at the end of June, "there was no impact yet" to Pandora. Going forward, McAndrews said that the company "feels really good about our trajectory and competitive position," noting that "there could be some users that experiment with [Apple Music] and there could be some short-term impact." McAndrews does not see any long-term impact from the Apple app. ANALYST REACTION: This morning, analyst commentary has been mixed. Research firm Stifel said Pandora's outlook remains favorable. Stifel said that the company plans to intensify its marketing efforts during the seasonally stronger 2H15 and that the company's outlook for 2H15 has improved following the results. The firm kept a $25 price target and Buy rating on the shares. Another firm, JMP Securities, said Pandora’s mobile trends were encouraging, but said it will stay on sidelines until the company's user trends accelerate and its royalty case concludes. JMP Securities kept a Market Perform rating on the shares. PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, Pandora rose $2.05, or about 14.8%, to $15.93 on nearly twice its average daily trading volume. Despite today’s advance, the shares have fallen approximately 45% over the past year.

Wal-Mart's Apple Pay competitor launching soon, Bloomberg saysCurrentC, the mobile payment application funded by Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY) and others, will see an early trial run next month, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing three people familiar with the situation. A spokesperson for Lowe's (LOW) said the consortium behind the app expects an official launch in Q3, and Bloomberg noted that CurrentC will compete with more "established" offerings such as Apple's (AAPL) Apple Pay and Google's (GOOG) Android Pay. Reference Link

JPMorgan sees risk of Synaptics losing Apple businessApple (AAPL) is working on bringing its touch and display driver integration functionality in-house to better protect its operating system, JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster tells investors today in a research note. The move increases the likelihood of the iPhone maker terminating its use of Synaptics' display diver solution in mid-2017, Coster writes. To reflect the risk of losing the business, the analyst cut his price target for Synaptics to $97 from $112. The supplier of human interface solutions is trading up 49c to $80.34 in early trading. Coster keeps an Overweight rating on Synaptics, however, saying the stock is already pricing in the risk of losing the Apple business after selling off 20% since mid June.

On The Fly: Top stock stories for WednesdayStocks began the session in negative territory and remained there throughout the day. Uninspiring earnings reports from Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) were enough to push the Nasdaq lower and the rest of the market followed. There was good news on the housing sector, with both existing home sales and a housing market index coming in with good data, but it was not enough to overcome the tech selloff. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the FHFA home price index rose 0.4% to 222.8 in May, as expected. Existing home sales rose 3.2% to a 5.49M rate in June, better than the 0.9% increase that was expected. In Europe, the European Central Bank reportedly raised the cap on Greece's Emergency Liquidity Assistance by EUR900M to EUR90.4B, according to Bloomberg. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Apple dropped $5.79, or 4.43%, to $124.96 after iPhone shipments in the just completed quarter and the company's sales forecast for the new quarter missed estimates. A number of suppliers to Apple declined in tandem with the tech giant. Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Qorvo (QRVO) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) were among the many semiconductor stocks that slid following Apple's report... Microsoft declined $1.88, or 3.97%, to $45.40 after reporting its Q4 Devices and Consumer revenue declined 13% and its Windows OEM revenue decreased 22% as revenue was impacted by PC market declines following the XP end-of-support refresh cycle. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Thoratec (THOR), which rose $5.84, or 10.14% to $63.42 after St. Jude Medical (STJ) announced an agreement to acquire the company for $63.50 per share in a transaction valued at $3.4B. Shares of St. Jude, meanwhile, edged down by 4c to $76.67. Also higher following earnings reports were shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), advancing about 8.5% and 7.8%, respectively. Among the noteworthy losers was Caesars Entertainment (CZR), which dropped $3.26, or 40.65%, to $4.76 following reports that a judge ruled the company must face certain creditor lawsuits that could force a bankruptcy. Caesars Acquisition (CACQ) also dipped after the news, falling $1.13, or 14.52%, to $6.65. Also lower was XOMA (XOMA), which plummeted $3.46, or 78.61%, to 94c and saw downgrades at numerous research firms after the company's Phase 3 gevokizumab study did not meet its primary endpoint. INDEXES: The Dow fell 65.60, or 0.37%, to 17,853.69, the Nasdaq lost 36.35, or 0.7%, to 5,171.77, and the S&P 500 declined 5.06, or 0.24%, to 2,114.15.

On The Fly: Top stock stories at middayStocks on Wall Street were lower at midday as slides in a number of big name tech stocks following their earnings reports dominated the news flow and largely dictated the market's direction. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the FHFA home price index rose 0.4% to 222.8 in May, as expected. Existing home sales rose 3.2% to a 5.49M rate in June, better than the 0.9% increase that was expected. In Europe, the European Central Bank reportedly raised the cap on Greece's Emergency Liquidity Assistance by EUR900M to EUR90.4B, according to Bloomberg. COMPANY NEWS: The tech sector has been weak, headlined of course by a 5% pullback in shares of Apple (AAPL) after iPhone shipments in the just completed quarter and the company's sales forecast for the new quarter missed estimates. Adding to the negative tone in tech stocks, and contributing further to the decline in the Nasdaq, was the 3% drop seen in Microsoft (MSFT) shares after its quarterly report as well as Yahoo's (YHOO) 1% decline after its revenue outlook missed the consensus forecast... Shares of Boeing (BA) and Coca-Cola (KO) fared better than Dow peer Apple after each reported better than expected sales and profits, though neither stock was moving far from where they closed yesterday's trading. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Thoratec (THOR), which rose 10% after the company agreed to be acquired by St. Jude Medical (STJ) for $3.4 billion in cash, or $63.50 per share. St. Jude shares advanced fractionally after the deal, which had been foreshadowed by media reports yesterday, was announced. Also higher following their earnings reports were Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), which gained 10%, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which advanced 8% and Whirlpool (WHR), which was up 6%. Among the noteworthy losers were a number of suppliers to Apple that declined in tandem with the tech giant after it reported a sequential drop in iPhone sales. Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Cirrus Logic (CRUS), Qorvo (QRVO) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) were among the many semiconductor stocks that slid following Apple's report. Also sharply lower was antibody-based therapeutics maker XOMA (XOMA), which plunged more than 73% and was downgraded to Neutral at Piper Jaffray after a Phase III trial of its gevokizumab drug in patients with Behcet's disease uveitis did not meet its primary endpoint. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 82.22, or 0.46%, to 17,837.07, the Nasdaq was down 42.68, or 0.82%, to 5,165.44, and the S&P 500 was down 6.93, or 0.33%, to 2,112.28.

Apple results disappointing, says Wells FargoWells Fargo says that Apple's lower than expected Q3 iPhone sales suggest that it may be keeping inventories low because of low demand. The firm thinks the company faces a number of challenges in its September quarter, including product transitions, tough comps, China volatility and less differentiation in the 6S iPhone. Wells keeps a Market Perform rating.

Apple shares should be bought on weakness, says JMP SecuritiesAfter Apple reported higher than expected Q3 EPS but in-line revenue and the stock fell, JMP Securities says that the stock declined due to worries that the company's momentum is diminishing ahead of tougher comps. However, the firm finds the stock's valuation attractive, given the fact that other tech bellwethers are missing expectations. The firm is upbeat on the company's performance in China and believes that iPhone penetration can increase significantly.

Apple post-earnings selloff overdone, says JPMorganJPMorgan analyst Rod Hall views the post-earnings pullback in shares of Apple as overdone. The company made no mention of demand weakness while China results and commentary were positive, Hall tells investors in a research note. He recommends adding to positions on today's selloff and keeps an Overweight rating on Apple with a $145 price target.

Apple downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at CowenCowen analyst Timothy Arcuri downgraded Apple to Market Perform and lowered his price target for shares to $130 from $140 following the iPhone maker's June quarter results. In a research note titled "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Arcuri says "tepid" iPhone sales in the quarter coupled with his supply-side channel checks indicate that phone builds are down cycle-over-cycle for the first time. June quarter iPhone units were weaker than expected even after adjusting for channel inventory, the analyst tells investors. Apple is entering a transition period and the stock's risk/reward no longer supports a buy rating, Arcuri writes. Shares of Apple are down $7.09 to $123.66 in pre-market trading. On the flip side, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster recommends buying the iPhone maker on today's selloff.

Apple technical notes ahead of resultsThe stock has been trading in a range since February of this year that is bound by a low at $120 and a high at $133. There have been three touches at the range high since then and two tests at the low suggesting the bias is for a breakout. If the news is strongly bullish, notably around China sales and guidance, a breakout above $133 and the brief life high at $134.54 would be highly probable. Based on the height of the range the upside potential would be to $147 to $150. Without overhead resistance, price could continue to drift beyond that objective depending on the strength of the news. If the news is a bearish surprise, which very few expect, the low of the range would likely be tested for a third time. A breakdown below $120 would have the same range expectations as on the upside, with a downside target potential to $107 to $105 implied from the range height. Such a move would break the 10-month moving average at $122.16 which has been a good proxy for the uptrend that began off lows in August 2013. The last time this average was broken was during the downturn in price in late 2012 which then ended in August 2013.

Sell PayPal amid mounting payments competition, Piper saysShares of PayPal (PYPL) advanced over 5% yesterday in the stock's first day of trading following a split from eBay (EBAY), with the majority of research firms issuing optimistic notes on its prospects. This morning, however, analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray recommends selling the share as competition grows in the digital payments space. BEARS: Munster started shares of PayPal with an Underweight rating, the firm's equivalent of a "Sell," saying increased competition could pressure the stock's multiple over the next 6-24 months. Google's (GOOG) Android Pay and Apple's (AAPL) Apple Pay will give consumers a "real alternative to PayPal" for the first time, Munster tells investors in his research note. In addition, interest in payments from Amazon.com (AMZN) and Facebook (FB) bring potential for more digital wallet offerings, the analyst notes. Munster set a $30 price target for PayPal. Of note, Evercore ISI also started coverage of PayPal shares yesterday with a Sell rating. BULLS: Wells Fargo initiated coverage of PayPal yesterday with an Outperform rating, saying the company's unique assets will enable it to maintain its leadership role in digital payments and benefit from the growth of e-commerce. Also upbeat was Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian, who contends that PayPal has the top pure play online payment system and is continuing to grow its share of the Internet payment market. PayPal should be able to innovate more effectively after its spin-off, added the analyst, who set a $45 price target on the shares. PRICE ACTION: Shares of PayPal are pointing toward further gains in their second day of standalone trading, with the stock up about 2.7% to $41.55 in pre-market trading.

Apple granted patent for 'fine tuning' input taps, AppleInsider reportsA patent granted to Apple by the USPTO involves a method of highly granular user interface manipulations by tapping on the side of an iPhone to "nudge" onscreen items with great precision, reported AppleInsider. Reference Link

PayPal initiated with an Underweight at Piper JaffrayPiper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster started shares of PayPal (PYPL) with an Underweight rating saying increased competition could pressure the stock's multiple over the next 6-24 months. Underweight is Piper's equivalent of a sell rating. Google's (GOOG) Android Pay and Apple's (AAPL) Apple Pay will give consumers a "real alternative to PayPal" for the first time, Munster tells investors in a research note. In addition, interest in payments from Amazon.com (AMZN) and Facebook (FB) bring potential for more digital wallet offerings, the analyst notes. Munster set a $30 price target for PayPal, which began trading yesterday following a spinoff from parent company eBay (EBAY). Shares of the online payment system closed Monday up $2.08 to $40.47.

Apple July weekly volatility increases into Q3 and outlook Apple July weekly call option implied volatility is at 56, August is at 31, October is at 26; compared to its 52-week range of 15 to 36, suggesting large near term price movement into the expected release of Q3 results on July 21.

Samsung most popular smartphone maker in Q2, TrendForce saysSamsung (SSNLF) was the most popular smartphone maker in the second quarter, even though the smartphone market has started to slow down, according to data from research firm TrendForce. Smartphone shipments will grow 8.2% year over year in 2015, though that's down from the previously anticipated growth rate of 11.6%, the report says. Samsung has led in smartphone shipments with a second-quarter growth of 26.8%. However, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge's annual shipment forecast has been marked down repeatedly. TrendForce has also revised Samsung's annual smartphone shipments downwards to 45M units this year. As Chinese vendors are taking more shares of the low- to mid-range product market, Samsung's ability to reverse its fortune may hinge on the success of its Galaxy Note 5. If this device is able to attract consumers with upgraded specs and new features, then Samsung will avoid the high possibility of negative shipment growth for this year. Apple (AAPL) rode on the popularity of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in this year's first half and achieved a remarkably strong shipment result in the off-peak season. The next-generation iPhone due to be launched this year offers no major changes in appearance, but Apple has given the device a new A9 processor and upgraded its memory to 2GB LPDDR4 for the first time. These improvements along with the Force Touch module and a camera featuring a possible resolution of 12MP will give the next iPhone a huge boost. Thus, TrendForce's iPhone shipment forecast for this year continues to be very positive with a high growth of 15% upwards. Lenovo (LNVGY) has fallen to No. 6 in the global shipment ranking and is expected to see a 20%-30% decline in this year's shipments. Lenovo's market share did not double as anticipated after its takeover of Motorola in 2014. Moreover, Lenovo did not have a well-defined product positioning strategy and the brand faced strong competition from challengers offering lower-priced smartphone models.

Analysts down on Apple Watch sales, AFP reportsCertain analysts have said that Apple's new smartwatch is not a mainstream hit due its disappointingly low sales figures, AFP reports. A study from Slice Intelligence suggests that Apple Watch orders have decreased 90% since the week the device made its debut, the report says. In response, BMO Capital Markets said it told investors that they were "disappointed" and reduced their estimate for Apple Watch sales in the upcoming year, the report adds. Richard Windsor at Edison Investment Research said that even if Slice is off the mark about the plunge in Apple Watch orders, it was evident that the wearable has sold way less than even conservative expectations, AFP says. Reference Link